Crabmeat Purse with White Wine Lemon Butter Sauce

Crepes. I love crepes. They are so versatile. You can have sweet dessert crepes or savory crepes, either as breakfast, an entrée or as an appetizer. You can even have them as a snack. You can make them in little purses, triangles, cylinders like a french enchilada or folded like a french burrito. They really are remarkable and tasty, too. This dish is a crabmeat crepe made in a little purse because it’s purty.

Crepes are delicate thin, flat pancakes you can stuff with all sorts of comestibles. They are remarkable in their simplicity, yet they make an elegant presentation. Crepes are a french institution and one of the national foods of France. People in France, especially in the northwestern portion of France in Brittany, have been eating crepes since the Middle-Ages. In fact, originally, crepes were peasant food made with buckwheat stuffed with savory fillings like cheese, vegetables and meat. Later, white flour was used for sweet crepes filled with fresh fruits and creams. As time passed, like all simple peasant dishes, the elite began to take notice the peasants were eating something good. So, crepes began gracing the finest tables and restaurants in France and ultimately were available to all Frenchmen. So uniquely french are crepes that when people think of french food, one of the first things they think of is crepes.

Eventually, crepes made their way to the United States and were served at the fanciest restaurants. People drooled over Crepes Suzette. In the 1970s, however, crepes gained great popularity among the middle class (perhaps due to Julia Child’s bring french cuisine to the American table in an understandable, simple manner) and various creperies began to appear. As with all crazes, the crepe craze subsided almost as quickly as it arose. Although they were still served at fine dining establishments their popularity among the masses dwindled. Now, however, they are making a reemergence. Of course, leave it to the Japanese to take such a distinguished dish and turn it into street food fair. Crepes now have come out of the dining room and into mainstream populace thanks to the Japanese, street vendors and food trucks. So if you want to try an elegant yet simple dish, give this recipe a try. If you don’t want to hassle with the purse, simply roll it and serve it with sauce over the top with a garnish of chopped chives. Don’t let crepes intimidate you. Try this recipe. You will like it.

Ingredients

Crepe Batter

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

2 large eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

2 tablespoon clarified butter

Crabmeat filling

1 lb lump crabmeat

1 medium onion, small dice

1/2 orange (or red) bell pepper, small dice

1 large clove garlic, minced

4 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/2 cup white wine

1 lemon, juiced

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp parsley, minced for garnish

chives to tie the purse

White Wine Lemon Butter Sauce

3 Tbsp butter

1 shallot, roughly chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1/2 lemon, juiced

Instructions:

For the Crepes: Mix flour and salt. Add eggs and mix with a wooden spoon to create a stiff paste.

Set batter aside for at least one hour before using to allow the flour to swell completely and the glutens to relax. I like to make the batter the night before and let it sit overnight. Also, don’t worry if the batter has little lumps. Once the batter rests, whisk again and the lumps will no longer be there. One other note. After the batter has rested you will probably have to thin the batter because it has a tendency to thicken as it rests. In some instances you may need as much as another 1/4 cup milk. Just make sure you check it and thin it to the desired consistency (i.e., the consistency of heavy cream) before using. If you’re not sure if it is too thick, make a test crepe and see.

When ready to serve, using a ladle, ladle the batter into a preheated 9 inch nonstick sauté pan and turn the pan to coat the batter evenly along the bottom of the pan.

When done on the bottom (you can always cheat and left an edge to see if it is browning right) flip the crepe to the other side. If you are skilled at tossing the crepe to turn it then by all means do so. If you cannot do that kitchen trick, use a spatula and your fingers to turn it.

Add wine and increase heat to high. Bring to mixture to a boil and reduce to 1/4 cup. Remove sauce pan from burner and strain the shallots leaving only the mixture behind. Discard the shallot.

While the mixture is still warm, whisk in butter,parsley and lemon juice. Set aside and keep warm until the fish is done. Because this is an emulsification be careful not to keep it too hot so as to “break” the sauce.

To Plate: Quickly parboil some whole chives to the string to tie off the top of the purse. Put a spoonful of the filing in the middle of the crepe.